User blog:Cfp3157/The Disaster Artist Review: Friendship, Film, Failure, and Football
As one of the best worst movies ever made, The Room ''is often the target of good-natured pardoy and insults. It has been burned into the lexicon of modern pop culture, serving as an unintended cult masterpiece of awfulness. It is fitting then that James Franco's tender adaption and perception of the film's legacy, origin, and its mastermind Tommy Wiseau be perfectly strange in and of itself. Filled with little inconsistencies that feel more like knowing winks than genuine flaws, ''The Disaster Artist ''is less a "the making of" picture and more a tale about the desire to succeed when everything is against you. The Cast In true Hollywood movie fashion, the film is littered with cameos and bit parts that serve as comedic strokes of brilliance from some of the biggest middle names of the acting industry. Perhaps in the funniest cameo is Franco's own patron Judd Apatow, delivering a fantastic bit that both humanizes Tommy and provides a heathy laugh. Zac Efron, Sharon Stone, Bob Odendirk, and numerous others appear throughout the film in cameos that will provide joy, while Seth Rogen gets a ltitle meat to chew on for his own amusing supporting role as the script supervisor that won't tolerate Tommy's antics. At the core of the film are two powerful lead performances in the Franco brothers. Criminally underrated, the younger Dave Franco really lifts the film on his shoulders in a narrative sense. As the reserved, quieter Greg Sestero, viewers will begin to sympathize with this struggling actor as he idolizes, and soon detests, the enigma of a best friend he has become tied to. Despite occasional moments of being too timid, Dave manages to deliver one of the best of his career. Stealing the spotlight is James Franco, who plays the mysterious actor and ''The Room's auteur Tommy Wiseau. Far more than a simple cariacture of the real Wiseau, which it does feel like for the first couple scenes, Franco truly buries into the complexities and idiosyncracies of the man. Despite filling the screams with writhing movements and indecipherable yelling, Franco never feels like he's overacting. Towards the end, Franco viciously captures Wiseau's spiral with perfection. Score: 4.5 out of 5 The Script Proven in their field before, Scott Neudstadter and Michael H. Weber deliver their funniest and most endearing script yet. Choosing to instead focus on the relationship between Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau, the writing duo let the iconic cult film take a backseat to how the pair of characters grow together. Tommy Wiseau is written in a noticeably strange way however, with his character feeling more like a supporting role for the amount of screentime he gets. Despite that, it's a small if noticeable flaw that can immediately be forgiven. Inspired by the real life events, The Disaster Artist ''is about the two main figureheads that helped create the worst movie ever made and how they became involved. Greg Sestero, a struggling actor both financially and in talent, meets the mysterious stranger named Tommy Wiseau, a man with seemingly no age, no birthpalce, and a bottomless pit of money. A friendship grows and they decide to make their own film after failing for years in Los Angeles. As ''The Room ''starts to film, however, they begin to drift apart and chaos ensues. Absolutely hilarious, ''The Disaster Artist ''does a great job balancing the humor and drama the film brings forth. Witty one-liners are a common tool, as is pure irony and knowing callbacks to its origin film, but it also delivers several heartfelt moments of sincerity. Above all else, it asks viewers to see Tommy Wiseau as a fellow human being trying to live out his scene, a desire the film expresses through both Greg's eyes and how audiences grow clsoer to Wiseau. Score: 4.5 out of 4.5 The Direction Once again, the one flaw in terms of directin this film has is screentime for Franco's Wiseau. Despite that one flaw, Franco's direction has finally born fruit. He tells the story of Greg and Tommy with a tender hand, truly highlighting how important friendship is to the other. Perfectly timed as well, thanks to the courtesy of Stacey Schroeder as his editor. It's his decisions and control that motivate Tommy, adding his own flair to Tommy's fireball personality. From the moment the film begins with a series of interviews telling how mediocrely known actors like Ike Barinholtz, Adam Scott, and Keagan Michael Key and a team of directors like J.J. Abrams and Kevin Smith, Franco lets viewers know they are in for a treat. But by far the biggest and most impressive techincal asset of the film is the produciton design. This is what production designers should be held to; a perfect recreation of every frame of ''The Room, everyting about it is a perfect assembly. The low budget cameras and film equipment, the cheap flower shop and alleyway that is just a prop-up of the actual alleyway outside, and how everything is set up in almost exact shame as the film, Something Franco has done really well with this film is understand it. Knowing that there are many questions and curiosites about one thing could grow dull without some sort of answer. Instead, they answer questions nobody even bothered asking and solve ten year old mysterious that make no sense then and certainly none now. Things like why Tommy throws the water bottle, Dave throws a football with the guys, and how old Phillip Haildeman is. Score: 4. 5 out of 5 The Veridct Even with minor flaws to nitpick at, ''The Disaster Artist ''almost gets away with all her mistakes as a film as purposefully done or even encouraged. Perfectly acted by the Franco brothers, covered head to toe in the Christmas sweaters, and an unimaginably thorough production design, Franco has recaptured all the elements of the ''The Room ''with a new energy and style of retelling it. In spite of itself, knowing its flaws even, the film instead wants to embrace viewers in their different way. One can't ask for more than that. Score: 90% For Your Consideration: *Best Picture *Best Lead Actor for James Franco *Best Lead Actor for Dave Franco *Best Adapted Screenplay Category:Blog posts Category:Reviews Category:2017 Reviews